"Good Morning Papi...Did you sleep well?" Orinda asked Mason as she came into the living room from the bedroom wearing one of Mason’s long sleeved dressed shirts. She walked over to a quiet Mason who sat with his hand over his head to hide his headache.
After the realization that his prescription was causing some of his problems, cold turkey was the only method to wean him off of the powerful drugs that catered to his natural disabilities and his military-issued PTSD. His other hand was used to control the mouse while he scrolled the web page in search for information. On the Department of Veteran Affairs’ page their logo and a message thanked all the attendees, keynote speakers, and the guest of honor for the 2014 VA Developmental Pharmaceutical Conference in Philadelphia. Mason didn’t respond to her greeting. He could only point to the screen. They were indeed running out of time.
"The conference was 13 days ago. If the letter’s mention of three weeks were any indication of when this is all going down, we have to act fast. We’ve been working on this for four days now," Mason said without looking at her. He felt her hand on his shoulder and for only the moment even the fact that death was only a day or two away, it didn’t matter. He nestled into her caress and then closed his eyes.
Last night after Detective Griffin gave more instructions to follow before leaving, they ate dinner. Afterward they both needed each other and they obliged. Mason did not let his inexperience and fear of not satisfying her sully the night as before. Orinda didn’t let her hunger to be taken do the same. They didn’t rush into the pleasure. They faced it head on and embraced because that was what was needed. They welcomed it. Mason took his time and moved to her movements instead of her moans, and her body cradled him as her orgasms made her pleasure tighten and release. He slowly gave her all that he had. They made love to each other before it was confessed and that’s what she wanted. Then he fucked her the way she needed in order to take his mind off death.
Afterward they lay together in the same bed for the first time. Mason stared at the ceiling and said nothing; he was afraid to. He didn’t want to ruin the best night of his life with words that should have been easy to say. Instead, he lay there with his head in a pool of sweat on the pillow as the fireplace added more heat to their bodies. Orinda didn’t mind the silence, she lay on him, and occasionally she looked up at him, smiled and kissed him underneath his chin and on his chest. She never made love to a man before, and it felt better knowing the man she made love to was willing to die for her. That allowed her to be more submissive and willing to take his burdens away. She knew they would return, but it was her duty as a woman, as his woman to make them go away for that night.
When he awoke that morning, he looked at her lying peaceful and angelic. He needed to figure how to protect her because he wanted to wake up to her like this for the rest of his life. Most importantly he needed to figure out how much longer the rest of his life was going to be. So he moved slightly to not wake her to get up out of bed. When he walked into the suite’s bathroom and turned on the light to take a look in the mirror, he examined his body and the scars of war but heard nothing. He was so used to hearing the voice asking for vengeance, but it was absent leaving only his eyes to speak to him through his reflection in the mirror. They were red, and his head was pounding.
The cotton-like feeling in his mouth wouldn’t go away no matter how many times he rinsed with an antiseptic and water. It must have taken four or five tries before he finally gave up. He was not used to having a woman in his bed, so he tried his best not to wake her, but the sounds of water running and his gargle appeared to magnify. He was trying so hard to be quiet. Urinating was so loud he sat down to mute the sound before he flushed and washed his hands. He needed to get some research done while she slept, and that’s what he did.
It must have been another hour before Orinda sleepily glided into the living room to be with him. He gave her the bad news. An hour had already passed while he sat in front of the computer looking at the screen of death. The screen wasn’t blue, but it showed him that he was days closer to being dead.
"To himself everyone is immortal; he may know that he is going to die, but he can never know that he is dead," Mason struggled to say. His words weren’t as choppy as normal. They came out almost lackadaisical. Orinda knew what was wrong and knew what to do. She didn’t respond to the letter’s beautiful message of mortality. She just kissed the crown of his head and then walked into the kitchen.
After being in Mason’s home for a few days now and rummaging days earlier, she knew where he kept everything. She grabbed two bags of tea and placed them both in deep bowled mugs and started some water in the tea kettle. Mason was showing early signs of withdrawals from his dependency on prescription drugs he shouldn’t have been taking to begin with. The tea would at least calm his nerves while his body tried to recover and find some normalcy.
"Do you think we are already too late? What if Cruz already has a plan in action to kill us, and he is waiting for us to walk into his trap?" Mason asked looking at a calendar. Seventeen days had passed since the conference had started. It would not have mattered if they figured the clues at the very beginning of their investigation because they were already two weeks in the hole. If the killing was going to happen in three weeks, the conference started two weeks ago and their investigations had lasted for four days. They only had hours to spare before it was over unless they avoided death by having Cruz arrested or by killing him themselves. The only thing they could do now was follow the strict instructions provided by their only law enforcement ally.
The brilliance of Cruz couldn’t be denied. Instead of providing clues that led directly to him, he provided clues to reveal his secret, not his identity. By the time his identity was discovered, more time had fallen off the clock.
"Don’t worry about time right now, baby. We need to get you better. Here! Have some tea," Orinda said bringing the tea to him at the desk. She knew how to relax him, and he appreciated it. They both then sat in front of the computer, looking at the calendar and the message on the page, thanking the dignitaries for attending the conference.
"The Director of Pharmacology has to be one of the dignitaries and a key note speaker at these things, right?" Orinda asked. Her question didn’t seem like much at first, but after Mason pulled away from the soothing aroma of tea and accepted its bitter, sugarless taste, he regained focus to the situation and Orinda’s question.
"Yes, but I’m only speaking from my military days. Anytime a person higher up in rank (in this case, the director) attended a conference to acknowledge an accomplishment or event, not only did they speak but they made their presence felt, they brought guests and shook hands, and they even made time to answer questions if the platform allowed for it. I think that may be our next clue, but we are going to need Griffin’s assistance for this one because they aren’t going to give us as journalists personal identifiable information from a Department of Veteran Affairs event, but I believe we may have just figured out more than we realized," Mason said. He didn’t stammer any of his words, but they were very slow. He still had the world’s largest headache as they continued the conversation, but his body felt different. It didn’t feel like he was missing anything that wasn’t supposed to be there.
"Help me out here, Papi. What does the fact that maybe or maybe not our killer was a keynote speaker or a dignitary have to do with anything? We know he is our killer. He may have something to do with your prescription being conveniently wrong which would cause adverse reactions, and we even know he is gay or may have gay tendencies, but how does him being a speaker at a conference help us?" Orinda asked churning thoughts to figure out Mason’s clue but after his phone call that followed her "Bethany Martinez" lead, she understood completely.
"Good morning, sir. My name is Special Agent Sessions calling from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. I need to speak with someone who can help me acquire a guest list from the previously held 2014 VA Developmental Pharmaceutical Conference. The federal government has acquired a just cause warrant to gather this information, and I will fax it to you shortly, but the criticality of the investigation has increased as the subject in question may be on the move. We need the list of names to confirm that he was at this conference in association as one of the speakers," Mason said. He was even able to alter his voice to hide his original tone and aid his slow speech.
The method was illegal but brilliant, and now Orinda understood. Mason figured if Stantigo Cruz was in the area for a conference in the professional capacity, maybe he invited others to see him speak, family even. The event in question didn’t matter as much as it did for a narcissist to be seen and heard. If there was a list of guest names that stood out to them, they could look for resident addresses and more. If they were lucky, the names would be directly associated with whom they were guests of. The receptionist in Baltimore did say he was visiting family on this trip as well. Maybe they would find him that way.
"Mr. Sessions, I surely can provide a guest list to you. Would you like me to fax it to you or would you prefer it to be emailed?" the receptionist asked on the other end. Mason didn’t actually expect his fraudulent, criminal tactic would work so well, but that’s the power of law enforcement. The whole lot of law enforcement officers uses a sworn title to acquire many privileges and benefits. It’s almost a second law to follow if the first option of honesty was not available. Orinda was in awe of his confidence as Mason took on a different persona in order to help continue their investigation. It aroused her. His confidence aroused her. He aroused her.
"Due to the severity of the investigation, I would ask that you not email this information. An email would create too many electronic stamps to trace. I would prefer to have the information sent via facsimile. Please provide a cover letter and address it to my last name only, no titles, no rank just my last name, Sessions. Also don’t use your name. Simply use the name of the hotel on the ‘From’ line. That will allow me to provide you complete autonomy, and it will allow me to continue with the investigation," Mason said as he stood up from the desk.
They just made another huge advancement in the investigation, and he could no longer hold in his excitement. He provided the receptionist the fax number for the Daily. All they had to do now was go into the office and pick it up. Of course, they would run it all by Detective Griffin beforehand to be sure he knew they were purposely deviating from his instructions. They could no longer wait for Cruz to come for them. They had to go get him.
"Okay, sir. I sent the information to the number provided. If there is anything else you need, let me know. I will be on duty for the next 12 hours," the receptionist said. Mason was thankful for the help, but he was even more thankful the receptionist always wanted to be a special agent for a federal law enforcement agency. Because of this, he gave the most important information of all without being asked, coerced or without having the supposed warrant sent to him.
“In fact, Special Agent Sessions, one of the keynote speakers from the event is still staying with us in our hotel right now, but I will wait to receive the warrant before I provide the name," he said and then had to abruptly end the call to service a guest, but that was all the information they needed. Mason’s felonious attempt to gather information worked.
"Well, what did they say?" Orinda asked still sitting at the computer desk. She was still flushed with arousal but now more intrigued to find out what Mason knew. He couldn’t believe what he had learned, and he didn’t want her to wait any longer because if she knew, it would validate a reason to rush to the office.
"Well, the receptionist was a male and once I enlisted his help, he was willing to go above the call without an official document. He sent a list of the guests, dignitaries, keynote speakers and their affiliated guests to the Daily. We have to go there to pick it up now and make sure no one else sees it or knows that we are there, especially Chandler until we can clear him from this whole thing," Mason said slowly again with no hint of stutter as he plugged his phone into the charger.
"The guy must really hate his current job or maybe had bigger dreams than to work as a guest services representative at the Downtown Marriot because he was willing to help me more because he always wanted to be an agent. He told me one of the keynote speakers was still staying at the hotel, but he wouldn’t say who it was because he needed the official warrant to give away identifiable information," Mason said.
Orinda stood up with him and began to pace. They needed to get into the office, and they needed to get there quickly to get the information from the fax machine, but they knew that there was no way possible to get there without being seen by Detective Griffin’s lookouts on the street nor could they get to the information before someone else read it and asked questions of what it was for.
Orinda got on the phone while Mason went to shower quickly to wash the smell of sex and cigarette smoke off of his body before they left the house. She needed to call a favor into the office and have one of the other ladies grab the fax sent for Mason and hold it until they arrived at the building. She also checked to see if Mr. Chandler was in the office. If he was there, they would have to change their approach especially after they last departed.
She also needed to reach out to Detective Griffin to let him know the advances they made in their search for information. If they could get to the office to view the list of guest names, they could find more information regarding who the local family members of Cruz were. Family members don’t always know what other members are involved in when they aren’t around each other, but it’s rare that a family member is completely oblivious to secrets.
The list may provide names of persons close enough to Stantigo Cruz. Maybe he would invite them to see him while he spoke and possibly also harbor him while he took the lives of his former shipmates and detail members but not his fellow marines because he was not one.
"Mason, I called Detective Griffin and you won’t believe what he told me!” Orinda said as she barged into the bathroom. Steam from the shower made the air humid and moist everywhere. Mason turned off the water and slid the glass shower door open standing completely naked but not ashamed as he exposed his chiseled physique and his above average endowment. She gasped and then threw him a towel to cover up because she had to focus on Detective Griffin’s findings after he left them last night. It was amazing that he found time to do more cop work after getting home so late to his wife.
"What did he find out; anything heavy as what we did?" Mason asked slowly with no impediment. He stepped out of the shower and began to dry his body. This wasn’t a competition to see who could find important information, but Mason felt his position and fortitude depended on his ability to find the crucial answers because ultimately he was protecting her as much as himself. This was another shortcoming aspect of the male ego even when men are paired to address the same issue.
"Remember last night before Griffin left and he asked you for the names of the Marines that were in your old detail? He said he went home to research each of them and found a discovery too coincidental for comfort. For each murder of a Marine, there was conveniently a Department of Veteran Affairs conference in each of those locations: North Carolina, California, and Arizona. He seems to think if we can connect with the law enforcement working on these cases, we will find more similarities to ours. He also said in the case of each death, the Marines had been registered with their local VA hospital. This means to me that Cruz had the ability to use his inside position to get access to their information such as home addresses, phone numbers, the works and then take them out," Orinda said.
Mason couldn’t verbally respond. He thought about what Griffin discovered, but he wasn’t too surprised Marines were being killed because he knew one day what they did would come back to each of them. The only surprise was that the one willing to do the killing was one who served with them side by side.
"I knew death would come for me. We all did. I just can’t believe the one doing the killing would be one of us," Mason said standing in front of the mirror and then dropping his head. He knew one day he would die before his time because he allowed others to do the same. At least they died at the hands of their enemies. Well, they were enemies by their country's stances but in actuality they were brothers, comrades who were supposed to be fighting the same battle in a war against tyranny and aggression.
"What do you mean; you knew they would come? I needed you to tell me what that means because I’ve never had anyone ever want to kill me before until you and I were paired together. You have a certain calm about being chased down; I don’t get it, and I don’t like it. Now, out with it. Now! Ahora!" she exclaimed.
He knew it was time to finish what he had started days ago. He needed to tell her the secrets he kept for years. He had to finish telling the story, but the anxiety that crippled him was now worse than ever because he had to do it without medication to soothe his nerves. He needed something to aid him, so he went to his old faithful. Mason hastily left the bathroom still with his towel around his waist. He needed to get out of the confines of the bathroom and into a larger area with more space, so he could be breathe a little easier.
The narrow space seemed to grow arms and reach out to him. At least he could run away from the claustrophobia, but he couldn’t run away from the past or from the truth, and Orinda was there to keep pace the entire way. She would be there for him during the good times and the bad, but she couldn’t if Mason wasn’t going to be honest about everything. Plus she saw a pattern that maybe he hadn’t; if he had he would notice every time she needed more information from him. Each revelation would take more and more stress off his heart and from his conscience. She wanted to help him again, but ultimately this would mean her helping them both.
After reaching the kitchen, Mason opened the cupboard, grabbed a shot glass and then opened the wine cooler to grab a chilled bottle of Slivovica. He opened it and then looked at the clock on the stove. It was only 0730, and he was already drinking 102 proof liquor, but this was supposed to be better than taking powerful prescription medication.
"I’m waiting, baby. I need you to talk to me. I need you to talk to me right now, and it can’t wait until later. We don’t know if we have later and to be honest, I think I deserve to not have to wait anymore because I’m here with you, and I’m ready to be with you from here on out. Just talk to me. Please, baby, I’m begging you. Talk to me," Orinda began to cry.
She needed him to open up to her again, just once more. Talking wouldn’t make the past go away but would allow them to use their present together to continue and not allow his past to overshadow them.
"I knew one day it would come down to this, and I could no longer hold in this secret. I’m at least glad the person I have to tell my secret will not leave me or judge me for it. I know you care for me for who I am and not what I can do for you." Mason said as he took another drink to calm his anxiety but also to prolong time. He didn’t have a lot of time, but he figured the time he did have, he didn’t want to taint with the truths that haunted him more than the memory of the killings and the voices that asked for vengeance but did not demand it.
"When in the boardroom, we all knew we were going to be assigned a task that would not only be a violation to the rules of engagement but would also be against the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and against international law. Like I said before, in the room were high barred officials from Serbia, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Each spoke in the universal language of English except when speaking to their translator. The feel was that everyone in the room only pretended to trust each other. Of course, the US and UK were chummy brothers, but the Serbs and Russians appeared to have hidden ill feelings. When we walked in, they were all talking about something to kill time until the Marines who were to do their dirt were all lined up in the aft of the room and were given the order ‘parade rest.’ The officials from the United States did all of the talking because what other country in the world is the headliner of all things war and liberty?"
"Marines, we are here today because your bravery has been summoned by others who need it. Your willingness to defend freedom and democracy is the reason you are in this room and in this country. When defending freedom, it’s not only for those living in the United States but also in places of the world where they want freedom but are being denied their natural human rights to live freely. With that said, we need you to understand what we are about to assign you is necessary and has a presidential security classification severity of top secret level Yankee White, which means you will never speak of these orders. When you swore oath to the United States of America during your enlistment, you swore under the eyes of God that you would support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies foreign and domestic and that you would bear true faith and allegiance to the same. You also swore you would follow the orders of the officers appointed over you. Well, I am an officer and the time is now. We need you to strategically and tactically locate a list of Serbian officials who are planning a massive attack on a United States Army installation and simultaneously an attack on a Croatian position near the town of Split. We have limited information. We are instructing you to use swift and precise actions to put these persons out of their fucking misery and what greater gift of war is there than to die at the hands of Marines? In other words, do what it takes."
"All the officials at the table nodded their heads in agreement. The unanimous decision had been made before we entered the room. Then suddenly, one of the Russian officials said something to his translator that caught my ear. We were still at parade rest, so I could not turn my head in their direction, but I was still certain I heard what I heard and understood. I heard what he said though he didn’t translate it to English for the Americans and British officials to understand. They didn’t ask him to translate when they probably should have. I was able to understand they were sending us on a witch hunt to find soldiers who had defected from the brutal Serbian Army because they did not believe in the inhumane instructions being passed to them. I understood this but never uttered a word. I didn’t utter a word to my fellow Marines and I didn’t speak up to the American officials who turned a blind eye to history in order to protect the interest of the present. If I would have spoken out of turn, maybe we would have never been assigned the mission. If I would have spoken up to the Marines I served with, maybe, just maybe they would not have killed innocent Serbians in cold blood who only wanted a better Slavia if not one Yugoslavia. I did what I always do and that was said nothing,” Mason said with his head down ashamed.
The story he didn’t finish in the parking lot waited longer to be heard, but it was loud and clear. It was not what she was expecting which was a good thing for them both but was still bad nonetheless. Mason could have prevented more death if he had spoken, but a man who had been ridiculed his entire life for speaking never wanted to be heard if he wasn’t sure anyone was going to listen. Something told her someone would have listened to this.
"That’s not the end of it," Mason said and began to cry. "I did not tell Stockton and the rest of the guys that the men we were sent to kill were innocent men looking to change the region’s reputation and the world’s perception of every man wearing the Serbian uniform. On the other hand, I did translate the anger and fear of a soldier who just saw his daughter murdered and then watched her lifeless body raped. I could have prevented it all. All I had to do was talk! I didn’t and now I have the blood of innocent people on my mind but not on my hands because I never joined them. Stockton and the guys always belittled me for it. It was just another reason for them to make fun of me. If it wasn’t my speech, then it was because I was afraid to kill. But that wasn’t because I was afraid. I knew it was wrong. I knew it was wrong!" Mason belted out behind a loud cry he had been holding in for years.
Since she cared for him, she rushed to hold him and remind him he was not alone because that was all she could offer. She couldn’t remove the memories that permanently stained his mind no matter how she rubbed him. Now she understood why he couldn’t find peace while he slept or while awake or while looking in the mirror. The mirror only magnified the reflection, but it didn’t remove the scars on the other side.
"Papi, Por favor, cálmate, bebé. Por favor." (Papi, Please calm down baby. Please.) I’m begging you to calm yourself down because I worry about you so. There is nothing you can do about your past now. You can’t bring back any marine that Cruz killed, nor can you bring back the Serbian soldiers. Most importantly, you can’t go back to the moment when you had a choice. That time is gone, but this is not over. You have a chance right now to end the terror. It may be the only vengeance left for them and the only left for you. You have to win this because you don’t want to meet God without completing the mission for those who died innocently. This is your time to speak. Not only is it time to speak, but it’s our time to act, and I will do it with you, baby," she said as she held him.
Orinda came into his life to save him from himself. She came into his life to save the eternity of Americans fallen and Serbians taken. She would help save them, but first, they still needed to save themselves. Therefore she still had to ask another question still not answered though she knew it all had to do with the same task of the killer.
"Baby, I need you to finish this for me. I still don’t understand why Cruz, of all people, would kill the other marines and now come after you. You didn’t kill the innocent and neither did he, yet HE is the one with a list of names to cross off. Why? What’s the purpose?" she asked.
Mason gathered his composure because he wasn’t sure this was the answer she was looking for, but one thing for certain, it was not his fault but more so the fault of American officials in the boardroom.
"American military officials have done this for years. They befriend the same nations who were once enemies only for special interest and foreign policy advancements. Historically we have done this because it allowed the military an advantage to prepare for the next enemy. It’s not a wonder that many of America's allies were enemies once upon a time. England, France, Spain, Japan, even South Korea. For instance, the Korean War may be the worst war because of the number of American lives lost in a three year time period, but it could be considered a victory because we still have two Koreas and an armistice was signed. Not only that but we have almost 30,000 troops still there. Why wasn’t this the result after defeating Korea during the Korean Expedition? What about the Boxer Rebellion? The United States teamed with the UK and France but also the entire list of countries that would become the Axis powers! Did you know that the majority of American war victories were fought on its own soil? Ask the native tribes who went to war with the US government. Usually they were aided by a country who once shared the same supposed interest. They fought gallantly but could not withstand the American interest offered to other tribes who were their own sworn enemies. That’s the history of the world’s liberators. The same people that liberate will become enemies and enemies become allies. The best deception of the enemy is to use the perception of a friend. That’s what the Russian officials in the room did. After a history of mistrust, the American officials trusted the Russians’ word in order to implement its own stamp on the region adjusting to the fall of the Soviet’s clutch. In addition to overhearing the Russian speak about the defective Serbians, together they laughed as they conspired against America to commit war crimes, but this time the world would eventually know of the atrocities."
Now Orinda understood. Due to the American trust of an enemy-turned-friend, they had to remove any proof the event had taken place. Of course, they had to remove the key pieces who committed the crimes, but they also had to kill the voice that didn’t speak but understood what they found out years after the fact. This was consistent with what United States of America’s sworn enemies and allies also knew; in order to protect its reputation and special interests, America would do what it had to do to protect itself even if it was from itself.